Serra v. Salesian Society

In this action the courts are urged to use the State’s coercive machinery to enforce an illegal contract.

A close examination of the facts of the case is warranted; then we shall consider the applicable law. In June 1954, Rev. Juan Riu, Father Superior of Oratorio San Juan Bosco, a Catholic Church institution situated in Santurce, P. R., mailed to Elisa Pérez Serra, the plaintiff herein, to her residence in Guánica, P. R., a mimeographed circular dated June 1 of that year together with a coupon book containing ten one-dollar tickets for a raffle to be drawn, as recited in that circular, on…